• Theorizing the rural-urban transect

    The history, influences, and philosophy of transect zones.
    "What matters in a building or town is not its outward shape, its physical geometry alone, but the events that happen there" —Christopher Alexander, The Timeless Way of Building 1979 Two Ethics of Research Urban planning paradigms are influenced by two prevailing ethics: utilitarianism and...Read more

  • Pacello Placemaking Fellowship established

    Submit ideas by July 31 for cash grants for innovative, catalytic urban projects on any scale.
    A fellowship has been created in the name of the late Tommy Pacello, a widely admired new urbanist planner and attorney who led the Memphis Medical District Collaborative until he died in the fall of 2020 of cancer. The fellowship will extend grants—likely ranging from $5,000 or $10,000—to...Read more

  • Healthy communities explained in three steps

    University of Miami Professor Joanna Lombard lists the elements of healthy communities—and reports how the built environment may lead to physical and mental wellness through social interaction, physical activity, and connection to nature.
    Three key aspects to cities and towns have a big impact on community and individual health, according to Joanna Lombard of the University of Miami School of Architecture. Lombard summarizes the research on healthy communities in a video interview with urban planner Victor Dover: The greatest...Read more

  • Commercial strip becomes mixed-use promenade

    In the Capitol East District, the City of Madison has created a model for redeveloping a commercial strip highway.
    The potential of transforming commercial strip corridors is fully on display in the Capitol East District of Madison, Wisconsin. US Highway 151 (East Washington Street) is one of many thoroughfares that radiate out from the state capitol building in all directions—an area once blighted by shuttered...Read more